theory Unified theory of Voidbinding

[KandraAllomancer]

Here is my take on Voidbinding. We know that Roshar is a very mathematical world (e.g. Julia set) and that spren are based on quantum mechanics. I assume here that, just like quantum field theory, Surgebinding and Voidbinding stem from basic principles:  fundamental forces (Surges),  symmetry and symmetry breaking.

General overview
I believe that Voidbinding is actually a fairly simple magic system based on 9 Surges and powered by Voidlight. It may, however, seem confusing because of several factors:
A. Humans and Singers bond with Voidspren in a different way
B. The Everstorm changed how Voidlight is obtained
C. Voidbinding chart (TWoK rear endsheet) is an in–universe document and is not 100% reliable
D. We actually see four different types of Voidbinders:

• Full Voidbinders – nine orders of the Fused, each with a full access to one Surge with two aspects: normal and corrupted
• Half–Voidbinders – the Regals, bonded to Voidspren, with access to one aspect of a Voidish Surge, normal or corrupted
• Half–Voidbinders, Half–Surgebinders – nine orders of Knight Radiants bonded to corrupted spren, with access to one Surgebinding Surge and a corrupted aspect of a Voidish Surge. Use Stormlight rather than Voidlight
• Humans (and probably Singers) bonded with the Unmade (effects vary depending on the Unmade)

Voidish Surges
Voidbinding is based on 9 Surges (Odium's number). Which Surge is missing? Progression. As described here, Voidlight does not provide the same healing abilities as Stormlight. What is more, each Voidish Surge has two aspects: normal, similar to their Surgebinding counterpart, and corrupted. For example, the Voidish Surge of  Illumination comes in two variants: one akin to Lightweaving (“Smokeform for hiding and slipping between men. A form of power, like human Surges.”) and future sight (“Nightform predicting what will be, The form of shadows, mind to forsee.”), which have separate Forms of Power.  Decayform seems to have access to a corrupted version of Division, able to destroy minds and break people (“Decayform destroys the souls of dreams.”), while Envoyform accesses Adhesion in a way similar to Bondsmiths (Spiritual Adhesion). I don't think we have enough information to tell exactly what kind of Surge Stormform uses (Transportation maybe, since they can summon the Everstorm from Braize). This version of Voidish Surges also works well on symbolical level: evil is sterile and can only imperfectly copy and twist what already exists (look at Re–Shephir or hemalurgy).
As for the Fused, we know that they only have access to one Surge, and we only see the normal aspect of it. It would be very strange however, if Voidish Illumination Fused would be denied future sight when literally every other type of Voidbinder/Voidspren (Regals, Enlightened spren and Unmade) can have this ability. It's hard to tell if all the Unmade abilities count as Surges, but I believe they provide a tenth level of Voidbinding described by Khriss.

Voidlight access
I believe that every Voidspren is a conduit to Odium and has their own, restricted pool of Voidlight. Regals bonded to basic Voidspren have access to some abilities (Venli's Sipitual Adhesion in Envoyform, shooting lightning by Stormform) that seem to work without external source of Investiture. To achieve something more, however, either greater numbers (summoning the Everstorm) or external Voidlight is needed. The latter used to be provided by the Unmade (that's why it was said that Voidbinding originated with them), but with the Everstorm situation changed and now Voidlight is much more accessible. The Fused have more internal Voidlight than basic Voidspren, but much of it is probably used to maintain their life (situation similar to the Returned on Nalthis). Odium threatens Turash with removing this internal source of Investiture during the Battle of Thaylen Field. As a result of their particular status, the Fused rely on external Voidlight more than any other Voidbinders.

Voidspren bond
For humans, bonding with any Voidspren relies on specific mindset and environment (e.g. competition/battle for Nergaoul, death for Moelach) and is, by its very nature, temporary. If that wasn't the case, Moash/Vyre would probably bonded with a Voidspren already instead of relying on Jezrien's Honorblade. Unmade, such as Nergaoul, affect people's minds and can facilitate bonding with lesser Voidspren (another argument why Voidbinding originates with them). Because Singers have gemhearts and Forms of Power affect their emotional state, the bond is permanent. Humans can imitate this by swallowing a gemstone, like Amaram did, but it's very destructive.

Corrupted spren
We know Sja-anat always had the ability to corrupt lesser spren, probably by modifying their spiritweb. Given her willingness to defect from Odium and lack of malice observed in Glys, I don't think her recent ability to corrupt true spren is of Odium. Sja-anat was probably uncorrupted by Cultivation as a source of new agents to fight Odium, particularly those who (like Renarin) can interfere with his future sight. It would explain why Stormlight is used in this case rather han Voidlight.
Each corrupted spren one Surgebinding Surge and a corrupted aspect of a Voidish Surge. Now, let's look at the Nahel bond table here. Truthwatchers have a corrupted version of Illumination (second Surge). Second Surge is also corrupted in the next four Knight Radiant orders. There are no corrupted Bondsmiths (you cannot corrupt a godspren), and then we go back to the beginning of the table – orders from Windrunners to Edgedancers have a corrupted first Surge. This way, nine KR orders can be mapped to nine orders of the Fused (by sharing the same corrupted Surge). Nine orders of the Fused can be then mapped (with some fuzziness) to the nine Unmade – that's why there's no Unmade corresponding to Bondsmiths, even though the left out Surge is Progression (which both Truthwatchers and Edgedances have in uncorrupted form). Also, we have 5 KR orders with a corrupted second Surge and 4 K orders with a corrupted first surge – and this kind of broken anti-symmetry would be considered unholy by Vorin standards. The Voidbinding chart (TWoK rear endsheet) seems to be an in–universe attempt to understand Voidbinding (an essentially asymmetrical magic system) in symmetrical, Vorin terms (a reason why modified glyphs are used) – that's why both Bondsmiths and corrupted version of Progression are present there, even though they shouldn't be.

Edited November 11, 2019 by KandraAllomancer

[Karger]

2 hours ago, KandraAllomancer said:

I don't think we have enough information to tell exactly what kind of Surge Stormform uses (Transportation maybe, since they can summon the Everstorm from Braize).

I would say adhesion because we see them generating wind I would also call this the corrupted form.

 

3 hours ago, KandraAllomancer said:

We know Sja-anat always had the ability to corrupt lesser spren, probably by modifying their spiritweb. Given her willingness to defect from Odium and lack of malice observed in Glys, I don't think her recent ability to corrupt true spren is of Odium. Sja-anat was probably uncorrupted by Cultivation as a source of new agents to fight Odium, particularly those who (like Renarin) can interfere with his future sight. It would explain why Stormlight is used in this case rather han Voidlight.

?  She calls Odium father no?

[KandraAllomancer]

1 hour ago, Karger said:

I would say adhesion because we see them generating wind I would also call this the corrupted form.

I agree

1 hour ago, Karger said:

?  She calls Odium father no?

And Cultivation would be a stepmother in this analogy

 

One important addendum to the theory - this WoB is usually considered a proof that Stormform is not Voidbinding:

Quote

Questioner

How many magic systems are in The Stormlight Archive, and how many of them haven't been seen?

Brandon Sanderson

I would say the only major one you haven’t seen is Voidbinding, it depends on how you count them.  I count fabrials as one, Surgebinding as one, and Voidbinding as one.  And then the Old Magic is kind of its own weird thing.

Calamity Seattle signing (Feb. 17, 2016)

It relies, however, on word ambiguity. Take fabrials for example. All spren-based machines are called fabrials (general term), but there are only 30 magic systems on Roshar, so 10 of them must be Surge fabrials (like Soulcasters or Oathgates). The same principle applies to Voidbinding: it's both umbrella term for Odium's magic system and name of the nine corrupted Voidish Surges (Voidbindings). We haven't seen the latter until the end of Oathbringer, when Renarin is shown to use future sight.

10 Surge fabrials + 10 Surges + 9 Voidbindings + Big Spren Magic (Old Magic and possibly the Unmade) = 30 magic systems

Edited October 30, 2019 by KandraAllomancer

[Calderis]

13 minutes ago, KandraAllomancer said:

It relies, however, on word ambiguity. Take fabrials for example. All spren-based machines are called fabrials (general term), but there are only 30 magic systems on Roshar, so 10 of them must be Surge fabrials (like Soulcasters or Oathgates). The same principle applies to Voidbinding: it's both umbrella term for Odium's magic system and name of the nine corrupted Voidish Surges (Voidbindings). We haven't seen the latter until the end of Oathbringer, when Renarin is shown to use future sight.

All this means is that the fabrials, even the non-obvious ones, work using the Surges. 

And, in my opinion, singer forms (regal forms included) and the spren bonds of the fauna are just organic fabrials. The part of the system that Fabrial magic expanded upon in the first place. 

16 minutes ago, KandraAllomancer said:

10 Surge fabrials + 10 Surges + 9 Voidbindings + Big Spren Magic (Old Magic and possibly the Unmade) = 30 magic systems

I don't think that the old magic does, or should, count as a magic system. Whether it's Cultivation or the Nightwatcher acting, it's the direct action of a single entity. That's not so much a magic system as it is a manipulation of general realmatics by an entity of such potent Investiture it operates on its own rules. 

[KandraAllomancer]

21 minutes ago, Calderis said:

And, in my opinion, singer forms (regal forms included) and the spren bonds of the fauna are just organic fabrials. The part of the system that Fabrial magic expanded upon in the first place.

It would explain why they don't technically count as full Voidbinding as well. But then again, what about the Fused? They're residing in the gemhearts too, if I remember correctly.

 

26 minutes ago, Calderis said:

I don't think that the old magic does, or should, count as a magic system. Whether it's Cultivation or the Nightwatcher acting, it's the direct action of a single entity. That's not so much a magic system as it is a manipulation of general realmatics by an entity of such potent Investiture it operates on its own rules. 

This WoB specifically calls Old Magic a magic system. And there is probably more to it - we still don't know what Cultivatonlight does, for example.

[Karger]

1 hour ago, KandraAllomancer said:

And Cultivation would be a stepmother in this analogy

She also seems to serve Odium at least until recently and he can compel actions of her.

[KandraAllomancer]

10 minutes ago, Karger said:

She also seems to serve Odium at least until recently and he can compel actions of her.

Virtually he same can be said about Taravangian. I still believe he and Sja-anat are ultimately Cultivation's agents, even if they're not aware of it.

[Karger]

3 minutes ago, KandraAllomancer said:

Virtually he same can be said about Taravangian. I still believe he and Sja-anat are ultimately Cultivation's agents, even if they're not aware of it.

Quote

Shallan regarded the figure in the mirror. It had spoken. “What are you?”
They call me the Taker of Secrets, the figure said. Or they once did.
“One of the Unmade. Our enemies.”
We were made, then unmade, she agreed. But no, not an enemy! The figure turned humanlike again, though the eyes remained glowing white. It pressed its hands against the glass. Ask my son. Please.
“You’re of him. Odium.”
The figure glanced to the sides, as if frightened. No. I am of me. Now, only of me.
Shallan considered, then looked at the keyhole. By using Pattern in that, she could initiate the Oathgate.
Don’t do it, Sja-anat pled. Listen, Radiant. Listen to my plea. Ashertmarn fled on purpose. It is a trap. I was compelled to touch the spren of this device, so it will not function as you wish.

 

[KandraAllomancer]

@Karger

For the record, I don't think she's fully uncorrupted. But she's gained more free will and her abilities changed, which I attribute to Cultivation's influence (it definitely fits her modus operandi). Sja-anat still mostly consists of Odium's Investiture and he can definitely compel her to obey in most situations.

[Karger]

29 minutes ago, KandraAllomancer said:

For the record, I don't think she's fully uncorrupted. But she's gained more free will and her abilities changed, which I attribute to Cultivation's influence (it definitely fits her modus operandi). Sja-anat still mostly consists of Odium's Investiture and he can definitely compel her to obey in most situations.

Interesting theory.  I don't really get the reasoning but.

[StanLemon]

The Voidbinding table shows 10 surges

They are the same surges as the Surgebinding table

The difference in the Surges designs are that the Surgebinding table has mirror symmetry while the Voidbinding table has rotational symmetry 

Edited October 30, 2019 by StanLemon

[KandraAllomancer]

@StanLemon

Exactly. Why would Odium's magic be symmetrical (it's specifically Vorin symbolism)? Why would it use glyphs (even if modified), which predate Odium's arrival and are associated with the Heralds and Knights Radiant? Why ten Surges, if Odium's number is nine? Why Bondsmiths, when there's no Unmade associated with them?

It's all nicely explained if we assume that the chart is an in-universe document - an attempt (not 100% correct) to understand Voidbinding using Surgebinding framework.

[KandraAllomancer]

27 minutes ago, Karger said:

Interesting theory.  I don't really get the reasoning but.

My line of reasoning goes more or less like this:

• Odium corrupts (unmades) powerful spren to create the Unmade
• Cultivation is the only Shard to fight against Odium and live to tell the story
• She must have learned a lot about how Odium operates from that experience
• Now she uses that knowledge to wage a silent war against Odium - uncorrupting Sja-anat (modifying her spiritweb) is a vital part of it

[Karger]

39 minutes ago, KandraAllomancer said:

Now she uses that knowledge to wage a silent war against Odium - uncorrupting Sja-anat (modifying her spiritweb) is a vital part of it

OK but the unmade have been loose on Roshar for millennia.  It would be equally possible for post recreance Honor to do this as a last act of defiance.

Edited October 30, 2019 by Karger

[KandraAllomancer]

3 minutes ago, Karger said:

OK but the unmade have been loose on Roshar for millennia.  It would be equally possible for post recreance Honor to do this as a last act of defiance.

It's absolutely possible. But Honor, in his last moments, wasn't exactly very lucid and was raving about Dawnshards and the danger of using Surges. Cultivation, on the other hand, is much better at seeing the future and is known for using spiritweb modification to influence future events in he favor, as evidenced by what she did with Dalinar.

[Karger]

15 minutes ago, KandraAllomancer said:

It's absolutely possible. But Honor, in his last moments, wasn't exactly very lucid and was raving about Dawnshards and the danger of using Surges. Cultivation, on the other hand, is much better at seeing the future and is known for using spiritweb modification to influence future events in he favor, as evidenced by what she did with Dalinar.

But Honor also managed to put together his Dalinar diaries and is much better at combining things also "last act" is a relative term when dealing with shards.

[Calderis]

1 hour ago, KandraAllomancer said:

Exactly. Why would Odium's magic be symmetrical (it's specifically Vorin symbolism)? Why would it use glyphs (even if modified), which predate Odium's arrival and are associated with the Heralds and Knights Radiant? Why ten Surges, if Odium's number is nine? Why Bondsmiths, when there's no Unmade associated with them?

It's all nicely explained if we assume that the chart is an in-universe document - an attempt (not 100% correct) to understand Voidbinding using Surgebinding framework.

And this is where I disagree. It is a Vorin chart, made with in world knowledge. And yes, that is fallible. 

But it's a Vorin chart attempting to explain something that was once known. The symmetry may be Vorin symbolism but it's still showing something worthwhile. The same ten Surges, with altered symmetry to show a different expression. Same Surges, different output. 

Odium’s number isn't nine. Braize's is. If Voidbinding is a Rosharan (the planet) magic system, it would still be ten-centric.

The glyphs have roots in the Dawnchant, which is a singer language, not human. 

Why does the number of Unmade matter when we've been told one of the Unmade themselves grants access to all ten Surges? 

To be fair though, I disagree with the basic premise because I don't believe the Fused powers we've seen are voidbinding. 

Edited October 30, 2019 by Calderis

[KandraAllomancer]

9 minutes ago, Calderis said:

But it's a Vorin chart attempting to explain something that was once known.

Much of it was forgotten. Turash was probably alive since the times of the First Desolation, but is still surprised that Voidspren can bond with humans.

11 minutes ago, Calderis said:

Why does the number of Unmade mattered when we've been told one of the Unmade themselves grants access to all ten Surges?

Unmade were something else before. Voidbinding should be entirely of Odium.

13 minutes ago, Calderis said:

The glyphs have roots in the Dawnchant, which is a singer language, not human. 

When Kaladin says his Third Ideal, some glyphs appear. Glyphs are of Honor, I think.

14 minutes ago, Calderis said:

Odium’s number isn't nine. Braize's is. If Voidbinding is a Rosharan (the planet) magic system, it would still be ten-centric.

According to the WoB below, the whole Rosharan system is ten-centric. Braize is the odd one. And Odium never Invested in Roshar. Plus, as far as I can tell, numbers seem to be associated with Shards in Cosmere (Preservation and sixteen, for example).

Quote

Herald (paraphrased)

Is there more significance to the 10 other planets around the Rosharan star system and them being gaseous? We know that Roshar's moons have unnatural orbits; so there seems to be some astronomical manipulation in the system.

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Yes there is significance of 16 in cosmere and 10 in Rosharan system.

Herald (paraphrased)

The outer 10 gas giants in the Rosharan system suggest a tie to the number 10 that predates the arrival of the current Shards. Is the prominent numerology we see around the cosmere an inherent property of the planets, rather than the Shards who invest them?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Big RAFO.

Herald (paraphrased)

Would Ashyn/Braize share the 10-centric numerology of Roshar?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Yes 10-centric is for the entire Rosharan planetary system...wait Braize is 9-centric.

Arcanum Unbounded San Francisco signing (Nov. 30, 2016)

 

[KandraAllomancer]

35 minutes ago, Karger said:

But Honor also managed to put together his Dalinar diaries and is much better at combining things also "last act" is a relative term when dealing with shards.

He did have help of his own Cognitive Shadow and the diary still ended up with Gavilar, of all people. Toying with the Unmade would probably have ended tragically. I guess we'll finally read and find out

[Calderis]

Numbers, from everything that we have been shown, are planet associated.

Mistborn spoilers 

Spoiler

16 applies to all magic systems there, just as the focus on metal does. Ruin and Preservation both. 

Additionally, if it applied to the Shards specifically, they should all have them. So what is Cultivation's? Or Ruin's?

Quote

Thought

It seems that certain colors and numbers appear frequently in specific Cosmere books, like the number 5 in Warbreaker or red and blue in Elantris. Do these colors or numbers happen to refer to a specific Shard, and if so, would they be consistent across the cosmere?

Brandon Sanderson

Certain colors and numbers are important in reference to certain Shards.

17th Shard Forum Q&A (Sept. 26, 2012)

Certain. Not all. 

Quote

The Only Joe (paraphrased)

Do all shards have a number they're associated with?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Some do, (most/some) don't.

Firefight Portland signing (Jan. 16, 2015)

Quote

Questioner

Does each Shard have a favorite, or special, number or color?

Brandon Sanderson

I would say that there are inclinations but it's not, perhaps, as specific as you are thinking.

Bands of Mourning release party (Jan. 25, 2016)

The system of Roshar as a whole was directly created by Adonalsium. 10 gas giants outside the asteroid belt. 3 inside. One of which has 3 moons. 

16 celestial bodies, when 16 has (and Brandon has said this) cosmere wide significance, not just a single shard. And ten for Roshar as a whole. 

And Voidbinding, per Khriss, has "ten levels" so I err on it being a product if the planet Roshar, not Braize. Odium has to have invested in Roshar to some extent regardless. Spren are a phenomenon of Roshar the planet. 

[Karger]

55 minutes ago, KandraAllomancer said:

 I guess we'll finally read and find out

Exactly

[KandraAllomancer]

25 minutes ago, Calderis said:

And Voidbinding, per Khriss, has "ten levels" so I err on it being a product if the planet Roshar, not Braize. Odium has to have invested in Roshar to some extent regardless. Spren are a phenomenon of Roshar the planet. 

OK, so who do you think can Voidbind? Yelig-nar grants access to ten surges, but I don't see any evidence those are other than the ones in Surgebinding. Moelach, Nergaoul and Sja-anat do things that Surgebinding Surges cannot do, but that hardly constitutes a magic system. Nine orders of the Fused don't count as nine-centric. Neither do corrupted Knights Radiant, as (A) they're a new thing, (B) they use Stormlight and (C) I don't see any way to corrupt godspren, so, once again, nine-centric. Some Forms of Power would count (Nightform for example), but you consider them organic fabrials. The only option left is some form of human-Voidspren bond we haven't seen yet. Would that mean that Odium has two magic systems (Roshar and Braize based?) or even more?

I think that Ars Arcana we see in Stormlight books are a work in progress, and Khriss would modify them if new information was available. Do we even know when they are written? More or less during the True Desolation,  before or  after (when Odium might be long gone)?

[Calderis]

1 minute ago, KandraAllomancer said:

OK, so who do you think can Voidbind?

Can and what we've seen are two different things. 

I absolutely think the Fused can voidbind. And I think that's actually how they're getting their voidlight. 

As far as powers we've seen, so far I think only Renarin's future sight. 

He's continually failed to create even the most basic Illusion, where the Fused jn the Thaylen gem reserve uses illusions in the exact same manner as Shallan. 

Brandon's said that there would only be "minor differences" in the Surges between orders, and so far other than Bondsmiths (and Renarin) we've seen absolutely none, they're so similar. 

I think Glys' enlightenment/corruption has altered Renarin's bond in a way that he has standard Surgebinding Progression, and the Voidbinding variant of Illumination. 

[Gilphon]

13 hours ago, KandraAllomancer said:

Which Surge is missing? Progression.

I dunno about this. Like, Voidlight doesn't heal in the same way Stormlight does, yeah, but Stormlight healing isn't Progression. If it was, only Edgedancers and Truthwatchers would have access to it. And I believe that we saw Kaladin fight a Progression fused in Thaylen city- there was a guy who changed his skin colour to blend in with the ground, regrew his arms almost instantly after getting them chopped off, and then grew spikes on them just as quickly. 

I think the more likely candidates for the missing Surge are Transformation, because they sure didn't seem to have a response to Jasnah, or Tension, because if the nine orders of fused correspond to the KR orders, then Bondsmith is the one they're least likely to have an equivalent of. 

[KandraAllomancer]

@Calderis

I thought about it and I believe you're right. Your theory provides a basis for a much nicer explanation, which has a very epic fantasy, Wheel of Time, feel to it. Here it is:

Voidbinding Theory 2.0

Odium Invested in Roshar in the past ("Three of sixteen ruled"), creating a 10-centric magic system - Voidbinding. He was, however, defeated by Honor and Cultivation, imprisoned on Braize and forced to Invest there, creating an underpowered, 9-centric knockoff Surgebinding (that's why he's the Broken One). The only remnant of original Voidbinding are the Unmade, which can grant some powers to humans and certain Forms of Power to the Singers (e.g. Nightform). That's the similarity with Old Magic that Khriss mentioned - both systems are remnants of something much more powerful, fueled by powerful splinters (what happened to Cultivationlight? I believe Unity has something to do with it). The Fused cannot Voidbind yet (without Unmade's help) - they're trying to bring it back, using Braize surges (e.g. Stormform). That's what Desolations are for, and the Everstorm is the first part of their plan. There are some interesting ties to the Selish lore here (svrakiss, Jaddeth's return, Wyrn's future sight).

What about corrupted spren? Sja-anat could always corrupt true spren, but only Truthwatcher ones ("I worry about my fellow Truthwatchers"). She was very discrete about it (she was designed to be Odium's spy) and Truthwatchers were very secretive in the first place, so this information never got out to the public. For some reason, she can insert any Voidbinding ability into Truthwatcher spren's spiritweb (Renarin got future sight). That's what the red gem in the middle of the Voidbinding chart represents - corrupted Honor/Cultivation Investiture (the Unmade and the Truthwatcher spren) that can access any Voidbinding.